Dear friends, 

The snow may be falling, and temperatures might be dropping, but my heart is warm knowing that we at the CBC are supported by friends like you! 

In November, I interviewed more guests for our podcast, Venus Rising. We hope you are enjoying our guests as much as we are. Our aim is to bring you a diverse group of voices from the experts to the everyday person. Last month, our friend Wesley Smith joined us to discuss cloning and gene-editing! In the new year, you will hear from two donor-conceived men on what it was like to learn their biological father was, in fact, a sperm donor. We even interviewed one young man born of the “genius sperm bank!” We will take you to Canada and Australia to hear what is going on with assisted reproduction outside of the U.S. The feedback on the content of our shows has been positive. It’s support from people like you that allow us to try new things and broaden our voice. Our statistics show that our podcast is being listened to by people in eight countries!

This month, I will travel with our research assistant, Kallie Fell, to New York City. We consider ourselves fortunate to be able to visit this bustling city at such a fabulous time of year, but we will be hard at work meeting with key figures that help us keep commercial surrogacy out of New York. As you know, there was victory last summer when New York failed to pass legislation that would legalize commercial surrogacy. As sweet as that victory was, lawmakers will once again try to legalize commercial surrogacy in 2020. Ergo, we prepare for battle once more.

Your support means we can lend our expertise to those on the ground in New York. We literally are the ‘go to’ organization for all matters concerning the ethics of assisted reproduction. Later in 2020, we will be organizing our own trip to New York as well, where we’ve been asked to bring survivors of #BigFertility. Stay tuned!

While we, like you, hope to have some relaxing days over the holidays, we at the CBC will hit the ground hard come January. Our Paul Ramsey Scholars and Fellows will gather for their first meeting in the new year. I’ll be traveling to Washington, D.C. to give an address at a very large student gathering, gearing up for two legislative hearings which will mean two trips to South Dakota, and traveling to Minnesota to give several talks and meet with state legislators.

And we are busy planning for our 20th anniversary celebration and our Paul Ramsey Gala as the CBC turns 20 in 2020! You absolutely don’t want to miss this event!

Your monetary support allows all of this very important work to take place and has a direct and positive impact on the lives of so many for our shared human future. As reflected in the yuletide song, we hope that this Christmas season your heart is light, your troubles are miles away, and that you are surrounded by faithful friends who are dear to you. You, my friend, are dear to me, and I am grateful for your faithful support of the CBC!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,

Jennifer

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